Exploring multiple contact channels to determine potential for reaching customers

ABSTRACT

Improving right party contact rates with a customer by exploring available contact channels and time periods may include periodically reviewing that customer&#39;s contact information to determine a set of exploration scores for each contact channel and time period pair of that customer, using an exploration score function based on an unexplored potential value, a contact utilization value, and a need-to-explore value for that contact channel and time period pair.

FIELD

The present application relates generally to computer applications andmore particularly to exploring channels of communication at various timeperiods to determine their potential for improving right party contactand increasing interaction likelihood.

BACKGROUND

Enterprises having a substantial portion of their business conductedusing front office operations for sales, support, account management,etc., may become more client centric by leveraging sophisticatedcustomer insights to improve risk management, contact channelperformance and customer satisfaction. Insightful operations also mayallow for continuously tailoring services offered to changing customerneeds. To succeed in the market place, front office operations ofbusinesses need to strengthen customer relationships and improvecustomer experience in the different contact channels in a multi-channelenvironment. Most often, this requires increasing the quality andquantity of productive interactions with the customers. Fundamental tothis is the ability to have insights about the customers such thatcustomers can be reached at their preferred, convenient time and contactchannel. This is especially the case when businesses and organizationsneed to reach out and initiate a contact with their customers andclients (outbound contact attempts) or simply return customer contactsas part of their customer relationship management.

Modern contact centers can handle a multitude of contact channels, suchas phone, text messaging, e-mail, instant messaging (web chat includingon social networks), telefax, and postal mail. Some of these contactchannel types can have more than one instance or subtypes; for example,there may be several instances of phone channels, such as home, work,cell phone, etc. and there may be different instances of e-mailaddresses, such as private and work email addresses.

Traditionally, the timing of customer contact attempts is based onstaffing capacity, customer segments, and risk priorities, and may beguided by “typical” or “expected” behavior. In the call center industry,customers are increasingly asked about their preferred time to becontacted. While this information is collected, there is not always asystematic way of analyzing or using the collected information. Inaddition, the call/response patterns at the individual level are rarelyutilized to guide outbound notifications. System operations such asinteractive voice response units (IVRs) or the like may not be set up toensure that contacts are always made during the mostconvenient/preferred time for all customers increasing the likelihoodthat dials are converted to successful customer interactions and hence,favorable business outcomes. Contacting customers at inconvenient timesor at plain unavailable times lead to wasted contact attempts, poorcustomer experience, dissatisfied customers and a loss of businessrevenue as the opportunity to convert a call/contact into business valuesuch as a sale or obtaining a payment is lost. Often, when outboundcontact campaigns are made, the phone calls are picked up by parties whoare not authorized to discuss the matter, which leads to enormous wasteof resources and delayed resolution. The ability to increase right partycontact and the ability to have an interaction enhances all front officeoperations.

According to an aspect of the prior art, right party contact (RPC) ratesmay be improved using observed and modeled patterns of customerbehavior. These observed and modeled patterns of customer behavior maybe implemented using a Best Time To Contact model (BTTC), which makescontact attempts using an exploitative model; i.e., it uses contact andbehavior information already in its possession to determine the bestcontact channel/time period to use in attempting to contact a customeror client. According to one aspect of the BTTC model's exploitativeapproach, a set of customer-specific historical contact data may be usedto estimate a statistical model which computes a score for determining asuccessful contact with each customer using a means for contact at aparticular time period. This model, developed using historical customerdata, may be modified based on additional customer data that may becomeavailable as the model is used to attempt contacting the customer. Theoutput of the BTTC model may be used to schedule a number of contactsover a period of time.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A method for evaluating contact information, according to an embodimentof the disclosed invention, includes selecting a plurality of contactshaving a plurality contact channels and time periods. The methoddetermines a set of exploration scores for each one of the plurality ofcontacts using the corresponding contact channels and time periods, andpresents the set of exploration scores to a recipient for making acontact attempt to each of the plurality of contacts. At least one ofthe above steps is performed using a computer.

A system for evaluating contact information, according to a furtherembodiment of the disclosed invention, includes a computer having aprocessor and a computer-readable storage device, and a program embodiedon the storage device for execution by the processor. The program has aplurality of program modules, including a selecting module configured toselect a plurality of contacts having a plurality of contact channel andtime periods. The program further includes a determining moduleconfigured to determine a set of exploration scores for each of theplurality of contacts using the corresponding contact channels and timeperiods. The program also includes a presenting module configured topresent the set of exploration scores to a recipient for making acontact attempt to each of the plurality of contacts.

A computer program product for evaluating contact information, accordingto a further embodiment of the disclosed invention, includes acomputer-readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith,the program code being readable/executable by a processor of a computer.The program is configured to perform a method including multiple stepsexecuted by the processor. One step includes selecting a plurality ofcontacts having a plurality of contact channels and time periods. Afurther step includes determining a set of exploration scores for eachof the plurality of contacts using the corresponding contact channelsand time periods. Another step includes presenting the set ofexploration scores to a recipient for making a contact attempt to eachof the plurality of contacts.

Further features as well as the structure and operation of variousembodiments are described in detail below with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Drawings depicting exemplary embodiments of the disclosed invention arereferenced herein. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicateidentical or functionally similar elements.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a computersystem for implementing a method, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart depicting the steps of a method for determining aset of exploration scores, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 3A is a schematic block diagram depicting a customer serviceprovider having a plurality of accounts and customers, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3B is a schematic block diagram depicting contact informationassociated with each customer depicted in FIG. 3A, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3C is a schematic blog diagram depicting an exemplary embodiment ofthe contact information for the customers depicted in FIGS. 3A-B, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a chart depicting results of a series of customer contactattempts using a plurality of contact information and correspondingcomputed exploration scores, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting the steps of a method to regularlycompute exploration scores in conjunction with a scheduler to makecontact attempts, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic of an exemplary computing system isshown. The computer system 10 is one example of a suitable computersystem and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope ofuse or functionality of embodiments of the invention described herein.

In the computer system 10, shown in FIG. 1, a computer/server 12 isoperational with numerous other general purpose or special purposecomputing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-knowncomputing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may besuitable for use with the computer/server 12 include, but are notlimited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thinclients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframecomputer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments thatinclude any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

The computer/server 12 may be described in the general context ofcomputer system-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by the computer system 10. Generally, program modules mayinclude routines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures,and so on that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstractdata types. The computer/server 12 may be practiced in distributed cloudcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be locatedin both local and remote computer system storage media including memorystorage devices.

As shown in FIG. 1, the computer/server 12 in the computer system 10 isshown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The componentsof the computer/server 12 may include, but are not limited to, one ormore processors or processing units 16, a system memory 28, and a bus 18that couples various system components including the system memory 28 tothe processor 16.

The bus 18 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus.

The computer/server 12 typically includes a variety of computer systemreadable media. Such media may be any available media that is accessibleby the computer/server 12, and it includes both volatile andnon-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

The system memory 28 can include computer system readable media in theform of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 30 and/orcache memory 32. The computer/server 12 may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, the storage system 34 can be provided forreading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media(not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, amagnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable,non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical diskdrive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile opticaldisk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided.In such instances, each can be connected to the bus 18 by one or moredata media interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below,the memory 28 may include at least one program product having a set(e.g., at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry outthe functions of embodiments of the invention.

The program/utility 40, having a set (at least one) of program modules42, may be stored in the memory 28 by way of example, and notlimitation, as well as an operating system, one or more applicationprograms, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operatingsystem, one or more application programs, other program modules, andprogram data or some combination thereof, may include an implementationof a networking environment. The program modules 42 generally carry outthe functions and/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention asdescribed herein.

The computer/server 12 may also communicate with one or more externaldevices 14 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 24, etc.;one or more devices that enable a user to interact with thecomputer/server 12; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.)that enable the computer/server 12 to communicate with one or more othercomputing devices. Such communication can occur via Input/Output (I/O)interfaces 22. Still yet, computer the system/server 12 can communicatewith one or more networks such as a local area network (LAN), a generalwide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet)via a network adapter 20. As depicted, the network adapter 20communicates with the other components of the computer/server 12 via thebus 18. It should be understood that although not shown, other hardwareand/or software components could be used in conjunction with thecomputer/server 12. Examples, include, but are not limited to:microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external diskdrive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storagesystems, etc.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-3B, a method 200 according to an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosed invention may be implemented using acomputer system/server 10, as described in detail in connection withFIG. 1, to increase a customer service provider's 300 RPC rates with aplurality of contacts through an exploratory model. The plurality ofcontacts may be, for example, the customer service provider's 300customers 304 (for example, customers 1-n), or any other individual orentity that the customer service provider 300 may wish to reach. Acontact may be defined, generally, by its dictionary definition as wellas any person or entity with which embodiments of the disclosedinvention may communicate. A contact attempt may include using one ormore contact channel types 312 or channel subtypes 316 during a timeperiod 316 to reach a customer 304. According to this embodiment, eachcustomer 304 may maintain one or more accounts (for example, accounts1-n) with the customer service provider 300. Each account 302, in turn,may be associated with one or more customers 304. In the exampledepicted in FIG. 3A, Account 1 is associated with Customers 1 and 2, andAccount 2 is associated with Customer 2. In step 204, the method 200 mayidentify the customer service provider's 300 customers 304 and theircontact information from a data source (for example, the storage system34 shown in FIG. 1, a database, or a cloud service).

With continued reference to FIGS. 2-3B, information on each customer 304that the method 200 may identify in step 204 may include, withoutlimitation, information about one or more available contact channeltypes 312 (for example, Contact Channel Types 1-n), and correspondinginformation on one or more channel subtypes 316 and one or more timeperiods 320. A contact channel type 312 may be defined as a means forcommunication. According to one embodiment of the disclosed invention, acontact channel type 312 may comprise one or more channel subtypes 316.For example, a telephone channel type 312 may be available tocommunicate with a customer 304; the customer 304 may be reachablethrough multiple telephone numbers, each of which may be a channelsubtype 316. However, other embodiments of the disclosed invention mayoperate without distinguishing between channel types and subtypes. Thequality of a contact channel (including channel type and/or subtype),including its accuracy and reliability, is not relevant to itsdesignation of as being available for use by embodiments of thedisclosed invention.

With continued reference to FIGS. 2-3B, according to exemplary andnon-limiting embodiments of the disclosed invention, a time period 320may be defined as: a specific time within a 24-hour period (e.g. 8:00a.m.); a period in a 24 hour day (e.g. morning, defined as 8:00-11:59a.m.); day-of-week (e.g. Monday); week period (e.g. weekday or weekend;business day or holiday); season (e.g. spring); or a time before orafter an event (e.g. 24 hours before anticipated service disruption; 2minutes after login on a computer network). The particular definition ofa time period 320 depends on the particular embodiment in which thedisclosed invention is used, and may be configurable by a user to suitspecific or changing needs. Furthermore, defined time periods 320 may becombined to define additional, more granular time periods. For example,in one embodiment, two categories of time periods 320 may be defined asfollows: (1) morning, lunch, afternoon, and evening hours (eachcorresponding to 8:xx-10:xx, 11:xx-13:xx, 14:xx-16:xx, and 17:xx-20:xxin military time, respectively, determined as of a customer's 304 localtime); and (2) day of the week (corresponding to Monday through Sunday).These two categories may be used in combination, so that it is possiblefor the method 200 to distinguish, where desired, between more specifictime periods 320, such as Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon.Selecting a particular granularity for a time period 320 does notrequire that all other time periods 320 be defined at the samegranularity. For example, the method 200 may distinguish, for a givencustomer 304, between Monday morning versus other weekdays in carryingout its steps and accomplishing its objectives.

With continued reference to FIGS. 2-3B, each channel subtype 316 may bepaired with each time period 320 (or combinations of time periods 320)within a given contact channel type 312 to form a channel subtype/timeperiod pair 324 (hereinafter referred to as a “subtype/time pair 324”).According to one embodiment, the number of subtype/time pairs 324 withineach contact channel type 312 may be derived by multiplying the numberof available channel subtypes 316 by the number of available timeperiods 320 within that contact channel type 312. Other embodiments ofthe disclosed invention may define the subtype/time pairs 324 with feweror more possibilities, and such definitions may be made configurable bya user. For example, the customer service provider 300 may have a cellphone number and a work phone number for a particular customer 304.Although the customer service provider 300 may have the means to placecalls outside of business hours to any phone number, it may choose neverto do so for a work number. In such a case, the customer serviceprovider 300 may choose not to use a subtype/time pair 324 correspondingto that customer's 304 work phone number and after-business-hours timeperiods. Similarly, the customer service provider 300 may decide not todefine or use a particular subtype/time pair 324 when requested by acustomer 304. For example, a customer 304 may request that the serviceprovider 300 not call the customer on a cell phone number except in thecase of an emergency. The customer service provider 300 may configurethe pairing of the subtype/time pairs 324 in step 204 of the method 200.According to yet another embodiment, the method 200 may identifycustomers 304 and contact channel types 312 (and the associated pairinginformation) from records in a database. In other words, it is notessential that the method 200 perform the actual processing of thecustomer 304 preferences.

Referring now to FIGS. 3A-B, the available time periods 320 within agiven contact channel type 312 may be defined independently of those inother contact channel types 312. The definition of a time period 320 fora given contact channel type 312 may be informed by many factors,including, without limitation: the way the contact channel type 312 istypically used by customers 304 (for example, customers may not careabout what time they receive an email, whereas they may care a greatdeal if they are called during late night or early morning hours);availability of resources (for example, live operators may not beavailable to handle phone calls around the clock, whereas automatede-mails may be sent at any time); and cost.

With continued reference to FIGS. 3A-B, time periods 320 may be definedin narrower and more complex terms than those described above withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the disclosed invention. Forexample, in the case of a home telephone number, the time periods 320may be defined as weekday/weekend and time of day combinations, such as:Monday morning, Monday lunch . . . Tuesday morning, Tuesday lunch . . ., Sunday morning, Sunday lunch . . . . In this example, the method 200may determine an exploration score for the home telephone number pairedwith each of the narrow time periods defined. The choice of the breadthof the time period 320 definition depends on many factors, includingwhether it is feasible for the customer service provider 300 to performthe method 200 for all available combinations for all its customers 304,whether doing so in the past has proved useful, etc.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-3B, pairing each channel subtype 316 with eachtime period 320 within the same contact channel type 312 allows themethod 200 to assess (in steps described in greater detail below) thequality and usefulness of channel subtypes 316 across channel types 312and across time periods 320, making the available information moregranular. Without this granularity, the customer service provider 300may not realize, for example, that the best way to contact a particularcustomer 304 might be by calling the customer's 304 cell phone on aweekend morning, if the telephone contact channel type 312 as a wholehas led to a low RPC rate for that customer 304. The granularity of theinformation also allows the customer service provider 300 to determinewhich subtype/time pair 324 to use for making exploitative vs.exploratory contact attempts.

Referring now to FIGS. 3A-B, the particular form in which the customers'304 contact information is depicted is intended to communicate the typeand range of contact information that the customer service provider 300may maintain for its customers, and is in no way intended to limit theorganization of such information to the depicted embodiment. Forexample, it is not necessary that channel subtype 316 and time period320 information be compartmentalized into contact channel type 312entries. Where an object oriented programming language is used toimplement the method 200 on a computer system 10 described in FIG. 1,for example, contact information may be stored as contact channel type312 objects having channel subtype 316 and time period 320 properties;alternatively (and without limitation), such contact information may bestored as channel subtype 316 objects having contact channel type 312and time period 320 properties. Other embodiments may not necessarilymaintain information on contact channel types 312, and may insteaddistinguish only between channel subtypes 316 and time periods 320 forpurposes of determining exploration scores. In more practical terms, themethod 200 may determine that there is a higher probability to reach acustomer 304 by email on a weekend as compared to using the customer's304 cell phone number during a week day afternoon. In other words, theexploration scores may be globally applied, and channel subtype/timepairs 324 may be assessed globally irrespective of their contact channeltypes 312. Additionally, the depicted form of the customer 304 contactrecords is non-limiting in that the customer service provider 300 mayorganize its contact information records by account number, rather thanby customer 304 identities.

With continued reference to FIGS. 3A-B, the customer 304 contactinformation need not contain information about every contact channel 312that the customer service provider 300 is equipped to use. Rather, thecustomer contact record 324 may contain information about only thosecontact channel types 312 or channel subtypes 316 known to the customerservice provider 300 through which a given customer 304 may bereachable. Additionally, the customer 304 contact information may beupdated manually or through an automated process, or both. This mayoccur, for example, when a customer's 304 contact information changes,or when the customer service provider 300 expands or reduces the contactchannel types 312, channel subtypes 316, or time periods 320 it uses tocontact its customers 304. Such changes, on the part of the customerservice provider 300, may be due to a variety factors including, withoutlimitation: a change in applicable legal regulations, resourceavailability, or expected or modeled RPC rates.

With continued reference to FIGS. 3A-B, the choice of contact channeltypes 312, channel subtypes 316, and time periods 320 depend on severalfactors including availability, cost, and need. Fewer or more channelcontact types 312, channel subtypes 316, and/or time periods 320 may beutilized in other embodiments of the disclosed invention withoutdeparting from its spirit or scope. For example, in a geographic areawhere there is no reliable internet infrastructure, e-mail or instantmessaging may not be a suitable choice for a contact channel type 312.Similarly, where the disclosed invention is used as an e-marketing tool,for example, a telephone contact channel type 312 may not beappropriate.

Referring now to FIG. 3C, an example of a set of customer 304 contactinformation (depicted more generally in FIG. 3B) may include informationfor six contact channel types 312 having one or more channel subtypes316 and time periods 320, as follows: (1) a telephone contact channeltype 312 having home, mobile, and work channel subtypes 316 (i.e.,telephone numbers), and time of day, day of week, weekend/holiday timeperiods 320; (2) a text message or SMS contact channel type 312 having amobile channel subtype 316 (i.e., numbers), and time of day, day ofweek, weekend/holiday time periods 320; (3) an e-mail contact channeltype 312 having network-based, personal, social, and work channelsubtypes 316 (i.e., email addresses), and time of day, day of week timeperiods 320; (4) an instant messenger contact channel type 312 havingsocial network service and company service channel subtypes 316 (i.e.,chat IDs, which may be telephone numbers), and time of day and timeafter logging-in time periods 320 (e.g., customer service provider couldinitiate chat 30 seconds after a customer's 304 login or webpage visit);(5) a telefax contact channel type 312 having home and work channelsubtypes 316 (i.e., numbers), and time of day and day of week timeperiods 320; and (6) a postal mail contact channel type 312 having postcard, letter, and package channel subtypes 316 (i.e., parcel type), andday of week and yearly season time periods 320 (in other embodiments,the channel subtypes 316 of the postal mail contact channel type 312 maybe differentiated by address type, such as residential, business, local,international, vacation, etc.).

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3C, according to the disclosed embodiment,the instant messaging contact channel type 312 described above may beused in the following manner: a customer 304 may access the customerservice provider's 300 website by logging into an online account. Thecustomer service provider 300 may determine (for example, through themethod 200) that the customer 304 has been logged on for an extendedperiod of time (e.g. more than 5 minutes) and browsed more than apredetermined number of web pages (e.g. 20), suggesting that thecustomer 304 is not finding sought after information. The customerservicer provider 300 may initiate a chat session with the customer 304through the customer 304's browser in order to provide assistance.

With continued reference to FIGS. 2 and 3C, according to the disclosedembodiment, the postal mail contact channel type 312 described above maybe used in the following manner: the customer service provider 300 maycommunicate with a customer 304 by initiating a mailing of a post card,letter, or package (each being exemplary embodiments of a postal mailchannel subtype 316), temporally differentiated in days of the week oryearly seasons. A successful contact in the case of this contact channeltype 312 may be defined, for example, as the customer 304 performing apredefined action based on the mailing. For example, and withoutlimitation, the mailing may include instructions on replying by mail orby accessing a website and creating an online account. The customerservice provider 300 may treat such actions as RPCs, whereas a lack ofaction on the customer's 304 part may be treated as a non-RPC.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-3C, the method 200 may use the information itidentifies in step 204 to determine a set of exploration scores for eachcustomer 304, in step 208. The method 200 may perform this step byanalyzing each subtype/time pair 324 for each contact channel type 312that is available for that customer 304. According to one embodiment ofthe disclosed invention, the method 200 may do so by using anexploration score function ƒ( ). The exploration score ƒ( ) value for agiven subtype/time pair 324, such as a cell phone number paired with amorning time period, is a metric indicating how strongly the disclosedinvention recommends making an exploratory contact attempt to thecustomer 304 using that channel subtype/time pair. Where the BTTC modelallows the customer service provider 300 to determine the best time tocontact its customers 304 based on existing information it has abouttheir contact habits and preferences, the exploratory model of thedisclosed invention enables the customer service provider 300 todiscover such habits and preferences where little to no informationexists about them. The exploratory model of the disclosed invention alsoenables the customer service provider 300 to discover changes in suchhabits and preferences over time, even for those subtype/time pairs 324for which information already exists.

With continued reference to FIGS. 2-3C, according to an embodiment ofthe disclosed invention, the method 200 may determine the set ofexploration scores for each customer 304 using ƒ( ) in step 208, bydetermining, for each subtype/time pair 324 for that customer 304: anunexplored potential value v( ) in step 208 a; a contact utilizationvalue u( ) in step 208 b; and a need-to-explore value E( ) in step 208c. These v( ), u( ), and E( ) values may be used to arrive at anexploration score for a given subtype/time pair 324, and may furtherinclude (according to an embodiment of the disclosed invention) anexploration criteria, as follows:

${f\left( {{u(\mspace{14mu})},{v(\mspace{14mu})},{E(\mspace{14mu})}} \right)} = {C + {{E(\mspace{14mu})} \cdot \frac{1 - C}{1 + {\exp \left( {{- A} \cdot \left( {{D \cdot {v(\mspace{14mu})}} - \frac{u(\mspace{14mu})}{B}} \right)} \right)}}}}$

The parameters A, B, C, and D are tuning parameters that may be includedin the exploration function to allow varying emphasis on differentinputs to ƒ( ). Other embodiments of the disclosed invention may utilizedifferent functions or different parameters, without departing from thescope or spirit of the exploratory model of the disclosed invention. Forexample, the customer service provider 300 may determine to ignore orplace particular emphasis on various aspects of the explorationfunction, or to use the result of the exploration function as an inputto another function. The use of the exploration criteria allows thedisclosed invention to be modified by user configuration. Theexploration criteria may define the relationship in which the v( ), u(), and E( ) values are used. The effects of using the parametersdisclosed in this embodiment are described below in greater detail.

Parameters A, B, C, and D are defined as follows. Parameter A controlsthe shape of the exploration score curve: a higher A value results in ahigher exploration score for a given unexplored potential value andcontact utilization value. Parameter B controls the sensitivity of theexploration score curve to changes in the contact utilization value: ahigher value of B results in a higher exploration score for a givencontact utilization value. Parameter C denotes the minimum explorationscore assigned to a given subtype/time pair 324 under analysis.Parameter D controls the sensitivity of the exploration score curve tothe unexplored potential value: a higher D value results in a higherexploration score for a given unexplored potential value. According tothe disclosed embodiment, the tuning parameters A, B, and D are greaterthan zero, as the exploration score should increase as the unexploredpotential value increases and the contact utilization value decreases.According to this embodiment, the tuning parameter C is greater than 0but less than 1, as the exploration probability value of ƒ( ) should bebetween 0 and 1.

The definitions of the unexplored potential value v( ), contactutilization value u( ) and the need-to-explore value E( ) may differbased on the particular embodiment in which the invention is used.According to an exemplary embodiment, the exploration score function canbe mainly based on a customer's 304 contact history, or the servicerprovider's 300 particular configuration, with the option of usingrecency weighting. The metrics for evaluating customer 304 contacthistories are first defined below.

For each customer 304 l, channel subtype 316 cc and time period 320 t,and a sample proportion p, the corresponding RPC rate is defined as

${p = \frac{r}{n}},$

where r is the number of RPCs (r≦n) and n is the number of contactattempts (n≧0). Contact attempts may be weighted according to theirrecency, so that more value is placed on information obtained from morerecent contact attempts than older contact attempts. Recency weightingof contact attempts may be accomplished by defining w_(i) as the weightof each contact attempt, where w_(i) is between w_(min) and w_(max);w_(min)<w_(max); and w_(min) and w_(max) are in [0, 1]. According to apreferred embodiment, w_(i) may be calculated as follows:

${w_{i} = {w_{m\; i\; n} + {\frac{t_{i} - T_{C}}{T_{T} - T_{C}} \cdot \left( {w_{m\; {ax}} - w_{m\; i\; n}} \right)}}},$

if T_(C)≦t_(i)≦T_(T) and 0 otherwise. For notational convenience, L maybe defined as T_(T)−T_(C). For example, L may be set at 1 year, w_(min)set to 0.5, and w_(max) to 1. In the above formulas, t_(i) is the timeperiod 320 of the contact attempt i, T_(T) is the time at which thecalculations are run, and T_(C) is the left cutoff time. Contactattempts made before T_(C) have a weight of 0, and therefore are ignoredin this model. Similarly, the model may ignore contact attempts madeafter T_(T). The method 200 may run these calculations using “as ofdates”, meaning T_(T) values may be used corresponding to dates in thepast, and the resulting calculations will be based on contact attemptsinformation available as of that date.

Using the above definitions, the recency-weighted number of contactattempts (n_(w)) may be defined as:

${n_{w}\left( {l,{cc},t} \right)} = {\sum\limits_{i}\; w_{i}}$

where i is an index for all contact attempts to the customer l andcontact channel cc in the time period t (for example, morning, lunch,afternoon or evening). Similarly, the recency-weighted number of RPCs(r_(w)) is defined as:

${{r_{w}\left( {l,{cc},t} \right)} = {\sum\limits_{j}\; w_{j}}},$

where j is an index for all RPC contact attempts to the customer l andcontact channel cc in time period t.

Now with continued reference to FIGS. 2-3C, in step 208 a, the method200 determines the unexplored potential value v of a channel subtype 316using the function v( ). According to an exemplary embodiment, theunexplored potential may be defined as the upper end of a confidenceinterval of actual RPC rates or as an upward potential. This approachmay identify subtype/time pairs 324 with a potential of having a high,undiscovered RPC rate. As each contact attempt has only two possibleoutcomes (RPC or non-RPC), the binomial confidence interval (C.I.) needsto be estimated. For any r and n values where r is the number of RPCs(r≦n) and n is the number of contact attempts (n≧0), a confidenceinterval C.I._(a)=[p_(lower); p_(upper)] is calculated with an a %confidence.

Now with continued reference to FIGS. 2-3C, there are several ways ofestimating the confidence interval used by the method 200 in step 208 a,depending on the particular embodiment in which the invention is used.The choice of how to estimate the confidence interval may be based onthe need for simplicity of approach, or the need for relatively greateraccuracy, in the particular embodiment in which the invention is used.For example, one approach may be to use a normal approximation where norecency weighting is used and the number of contact attempts is largeenough. This may be the case where n·p>5 and n·(1−p)>5. If a channelsubtype 316 has an actual RPC rate of 10%, for example, the normalapproximation will become fairly accurate with at least (n=101) contactattempts. The standard error of P, defined as SE_(p), can be computed as

${SE}_{p} = {\sqrt{\frac{p \cdot \left( {1 - p} \right)}{n}}.}$

The confidence interval for a desired confidence a is then calculatedas:

C.I._(a) =└p _(lower) ;p _(upper) ┘=└p−z _(1-a/2)·SE_(p) ;p+z_(1-a/2)·SE_(p)┘

where z_(q) is the quantile q of the standard normal distribution usedto calculate the confidence interval.

With continued reference to FIGS. 2-3C, according to an alternativeembodiment, more accurate or “exact” confidence intervals may becalculated in step 208 a by employing the Clopper-Pearson method.Computing the confidence intervals is more complicated in this approachthan if the normal approximation is used. Computing confidence intervalsaccording to the Clopper-Pearson method is well understood in the artand can be written in many forms, which are omitted from this disclosurefor clarity. The Clopper-Pearson method is described in detail inClopper, C. J.; Pearson, E. S. The Use of Confidence or Fiducial LimitsIllustrated in the Case of the Binomial. Biometrika 1934, Vol. 26, No.4, pp. 404-413, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated byreference herein. These calculations need only be run once, and theoutput may be stored in a lookup table. Using this method, for example,where (n=17) and (r=2), p can be computed as (p=r/n=0.1176471). Theconfidence interval is C.I._(80%) with an 80% confidence which can becomputed as [0.0315; 0.285], corresponding to a an unexplored potentialvalue of v=p_(upper)(n,r)=0.285. As another example, if (n=34) and(r=4), then p can be computed the same as before (p=r/n=0.1176471) butthe confidence interval is C.I._(80%)=[0.0522; 0.221], corresponding toan unexplored potential value of v=0.221. The results in the examplehere fulfill the requirements of identifying the subtype/time pairs 324with a potential of having a high, undiscovered RPC rate. Depending onthe circumstances, an RPC rate of 11.76% can be considered either highor low but the unexplored potential is higher in the first example asfewer contact attempts have been made and the subtype/time pair 324therefore is less likely to be have been fully explored.

For any chosen method for calculating the confidence interval, usingrecency weighting is optional. If the customer 304 contact history isrecency weighted, the unexplored potential defined as the upper end ofthe confidence interval can be estimated by using a bilinearinterpolation. To approximate p_(upper)(n_(w),r_(w)), bilinearinterpolation may be used. The following may be defined:

n₁ := ⌊n_(w)⌋∈ N  n₂ := ⌈n_(w)⌉∈ N r₁ := ⌊r_(w)⌋∈ Nr₂ := ⌈r_(w)⌉∈ N$p_{upper}^{11}:={{{p_{upper}\left( {n_{1},r_{1}} \right)}p_{upper}^{21}}:={{{p_{upper}\left( {n_{2},r_{1}} \right)}p_{upper}^{12}}:=\left\{ {{\begin{matrix}1 & {r_{2} > n_{1}} \\{p_{upper}\left( {n_{1,}r_{2}} \right)} & {r_{2} \leq n_{1}}\end{matrix}p_{upper}^{22}}:={p_{upper}\left( {n_{2},r_{2}} \right)}} \right.}}$

It should be noted that p_(upper)(n,r) is not defined for r>n. If n₁=n₂and r₁=r₂ then p_(upper)(n_(w),r_(w))=p_(upper)(n,r) as n_(w) and r_(w)must both be integers. If n₁=n₂ and r₁≠r₂ then n_(w) must be an integerand linear interpolation over r₁ and r₂ is applied:

${p_{upper}\left( {n_{w},r_{w}} \right)} = {p_{upper}^{11} + {\left( {r_{w} - r_{1}} \right) \cdot \frac{p_{upper}^{22} - p_{upper}^{11}}{r_{2} - r_{1}}}}$

If n₁≠n₂ and r₁=r₂ then r_(w) must be an integer and linearinterpolation over n₁ and n₂ is applied:

${p_{upper}\left( {n_{w},r_{w}} \right)} = {p_{upper}^{11} + {\left( {n_{w} - n_{1}} \right) \cdot \frac{p_{upper}^{22} - p_{upper}^{11}}{n_{2} - n_{1}}}}$

If n₁≠n₂ and r₁≠r₂ then n_(w) and r_(w) must both be non-integers andbilinear interpolation is applied:

${p_{upper}\left( {n_{w},r_{w}} \right)} = {\frac{1}{\left( {n_{2} - n_{1}} \right) \cdot \left( {r_{2} - r_{1}} \right)} \cdot {\quad\left\lbrack \left. \quad{{p_{upper}^{11} \cdot \left( {n_{2} - n_{w}} \right) \cdot \left( {r_{2} - r_{w}} \right)} + {p_{upper}^{21} \cdot \left( {n_{w} - n_{1}} \right) \cdot \left( {r_{2} - r_{w}} \right)} + {p_{upper}^{12} \cdot \left( {n_{2} - n_{w}} \right) \cdot \left( {r_{w} - r_{1}} \right)} + {p_{upper}^{22} \cdot \left( {n_{w} - n_{1}} \right) \cdot \left( {r_{w} - r_{1}} \right)}} \right\rbrack \right.}}$

With continued reference to FIGS. 2-3C, in step 208 b, the method 200determines the contact utilization value u of a given subtype/time pair324, which may be defined in an exemplary embodiment as the number ofcontact attempts in the past (i.e. n) or the number of contact attemptsin a recent time period (e.g. the last six months) using thatsubtype/time pair 324. For example, where the given subtype/time pair324 has been used five times in the last six-month period, then themethod 200 may assign the value 5 to u in step 208 b. Other embodimentsof the disclosed invention may modify this number using a time-weightingapproach, as described above, to place greater emphasis on more recentcalls.

Further referring to FIGS. 2-3C, in step 208 c, the method 200 mayfurther determine a need to explore value E which can be defined on anylevel including: customer 304, contact channel type 312, channel subtype316 or subtype/time pair 324 level. The choice of which level to use maybe different based on the particular embodiment in which the inventionis used. The E( ) value, as defined, is then used to calculate theexploration score ƒ( ) for a given subtype/time pair 324 and may dependon a number of factors based on the embodiment. In the case of thecustomer service provider 300, for example, these factors may include:whether a customer 304 is delinquent on an account; the customer304/account priority score; whether the customer service provider haslost touch with the customer 304 (e.g., there has been no RPC in thelast six months, or after the last 10 contact attempts); and theavailability of alternative contact channel types 312, channel subtypes316, or time periods 320 for that customer 304. The need to explorevalue E is based in part, therefore, on the quality of alternativecommunication means (in terms of RPC history) for the same customer 304.Where an E( ) value is calculated at a customer 304 level, rather thanat the subtype/time pair 324 level, the method 200 may still determinean exploration score using that E( ) value for each subtype/time pair324 of the customer 304.

Further referring to FIGS. 2-3C, according to an exemplary embodiment,the need to explore value E( ) may be defined such that it is basedexclusively on the contact history for each customer, wherein having asingle high quality (i.e., having a high RPC rate) contact channel type312, channel subtype 316, or subtype/time pair 324 results in a lowvalue for E( ). Conversely, E( ) may be configured to have a high valueif all contact channel types 312, channel subtypes 316, and subtype/timepairs 324 are of low quality. The quality of a contact channel 312,channel subtype 316, or subtype/time pair 324 may be defined differentlyaccording to each specific embodiment of the disclosed invention. Todefine the quality of a contact channel type 312, cc, for example, thequality measure q_(cc) may be based on a recency-weighted RPC rate

$q_{cc} = \frac{\sum_{j:\; {{all}\mspace{14mu} {contact}\mspace{14mu} {attempts}\mspace{14mu} {with}\mspace{14mu} {an}\mspace{14mu} {RPC}}}v_{j}}{\sum_{i:\; {{all}\mspace{14mu} {contact}\mspace{14mu} {attempts}}}v_{i}}$

where i is an index for all contact attempts and j is an index over forRPC contact attempts, and v, denotes recency weighting of contact asdiscussed above. It may be useful to employ an even stronger recencyweighting approach in this case to put additional emphasis on recentcalls. The contact quality of a customer may be defined asq_(l)=max(q_(cc)) over all cc associated with customer c.

Further referring to FIGS. 2-3C, a quantile of q_(l), denoted asQ(q_(l)) may be used to ensure that the need to explore E( ) for acustomer 304 is reversely correlated with the number of contacts withthe customer 304 relative to other customers 304. The E( ) value for acustomer 304 is then defined as a monotonically decreasing function ofthe quantile of q_(l) as within a maximum possible value of E_(max).That is, E(l)=(1−Q(q_(l)))·E_(max). In this example, high values of thequantile function mean that the customer 304 has at least onehigh-quality contact channel type 312 (or channel subtype 316, orsubtype/time pair 324), and low values mean that the customer 304 doesnot have any high-quality contact channel types 316. E_(max) may be anynumber between c (minimum exploration probability) and 1, for exampleE_(max)=0.8, being the maximum possible value for the need to explore.Additionally, it may be desirable to add an indicator component to thefunction so that only contact channel types 312 whose associatedcustomers 304 do not have any associated high-quality contact channeltypes 312 (defined as a quality of at least Q₀), have a chance of havinga non-zero “need to explore” value. This may be accomplished by, forexample, adjusting the need to explore function toE(l)=(1−Q(q_(l)))·E_(max)·I[Q(q_(l))<Q₀], where I( ) is the indicatorfunction and is 1 if Q(q_(l))<Q₀ and 0 if Q(q_(l))≧Q₀.

With continued reference to FIGS. 2-3C, according to another embodimentof the disclosed invention, a user may fine-tune how aggressivelyexploration is employed, by determining how many exploratory contactattempts are to be made per time period. However, the number ofexploratory attempts per time period only drives the level explorationas a whole. As outlined above, a user can fine-tune the level ofexploration for a specified group of customers 304 by manipulating theneed for exploration function E( ).

Further referring to FIGS. 2-3C, in step 208 d, the method 200 may applythe values determined in steps 208 a-c to determine an exploration scorefor each subtype/time pair 324 for each customer 304 using

${f\left( {{u(\mspace{14mu})},{v(\mspace{14mu})},{E(\mspace{14mu})}} \right)} = {C + {{E(\mspace{14mu})} \cdot \frac{1 - C}{1 + {\exp \left( {{- A} \cdot \left( {{D \cdot {v(\mspace{14mu})}} - \frac{u(\mspace{14mu})}{B}} \right)} \right)}}}}$

as described above.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3C, in step 212, the method 200 may present theresults of step 208 (and sub-steps 208 a-d, in particular) to arecipient. Presentation of these results and the recipient may varyamong embodiments of the disclosed invention. Non-limiting examples ofrecipients and how the method 200 may present its results to theminclude: communicating the results to a processor 16 or other componentof the system 10 for storage, including in a database; and communicatingthe results to a server or other system 10 for further processing; or anI/O device 22. The communicated results may be used by another methodexecutable by another system (or the same system 10) to perform avariety of functions. Non-limiting examples of such functions includescheduling programs/modules that schedule contact attempts for a callcenter or compiling records for later use; or a BTTC module that uses,for example, an exploitative approach.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-4, and more particularly to FIG. 4, a chart 400of exploration scores for customers 304 of the customer service provider300, compiled in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosed invention, includes the following categories of entries:customers 304 (e.g. a customer 304 ID number); channel subtypes 316;time periods 320; number of contact attempts n 404; number of RPCs r408; recency-weighted number of contact attempts n_(w) 412; recencyweighted number of RPCs r_(w) 416; and exploration scores 420 determinedusing ƒ( ), expressed as a decimal value. Information about contactattempts to three customers (1-3) is listed, wherein (C) corresponds toa cell phone number, (O) corresponds to an office phone number, and (H)corresponds to a home phone number. In the case of customer 1, the chart400 shows historical data for a total of 138 contact attempts n usingthree channel subtypes 316 (C, H and O phone numbers) and four timeperiods (Mo, Lu, An, Ev, corresponding to morning, lunch, afternoon andevening hours, as defined and discussed in connection with FIG. 3B,above) resulting in only 2 RPCs r. C has been used more frequently thanH and O. The corresponding exploration scores are, therefore, relativelymuch lower for C across all timer periods 320, but are relatively muchhigher for all periods of the H and O phone numbers. The exception tothis trend for customer 1 is the channel subtype/time pair H/Ev (i.e.,home phone number during the evening hours), which shows an explorationscore of 0.4412. This anomaly reflects the fact that customer 1 has beencontacted using the H number in the evening on four occasions, withoutany corresponding r gain (i.e., no RPC). Using the chart 400, then, thecustomer service provider 300 can determine the probability thatexploring a given channel subtype/time pair for customer 1 is likely tolead to discovering a channel subtype/time pair having a higher RPCrate.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3C and 5, a method 500, according to anexemplary embodiment of the disclosed invention, is similar to themethod 200 depicted in and described in connection to FIG. 2, withadditional steps. In step 504, the method 500 identifies the customerservice provider's 300 customers 304 and their contact information,which includes information about each customer's 304 available contactchannel types 312, channel subtypes 316, time periods 320, andhistorical contact information. In step 508, the method 500 determines aset of exploration scores for each subtype/time pair 324 for eachcustomer 304, using ƒ( ), as discussed in connection with the method 200(and more specifically, sub-steps 208 a-d thereof). As is the case withthe method 200, the method 500 need not receive and/or analyze contactinformation for every customer 304 (although this may be the case). Themethod 500 (and the method 200) may instead select a subset of thecustomer service provider's 300 customers 304 whom the customer serviceprovider 300 wishes to contact at the time the method 500 is performed(or any other time). Moreover, the method 500 may be implemented inconjunction with or as part of a contact scheduling system thatinitiates both exploitative and exploratory contact attempts. The BTTCmodel employing an exploitative approach typically uses customers' 304historical data to determine the best time to contact those customers304. In doing so, the BTTC model may use subtype/time pairs 324 thathave resulted in an RPC rate greater than zero, or a random subtype/timepair 324. By integrating the exploratory approach of the presentinvention an exploitative approach, the method 500 allows a scheduler tointelligently select a subtype/time pair 324 other than those that wouldbe recommended by the BTTC model, with the added advantage that suchintelligent selection is not random and is more likely to yield usefulcontact information.

With continued reference to FIGS. 1-3C and 5, the method 500 may present(i.e., communicate) its results, directly or indirectly, to a schedulecomponent in step 512. Using these results, the scheduler may determinethe subtype/time pair 324 (or simply, a contact channel type 312 orchannel subtype 316) to use in making an exploratory contact attempt,and schedules the contact attempt by factoring in other considerations,such as system resources, the confidence level in the BTTC model resultsfor a given customer, logistics, etc. In step 516, the method 500 maymake an exploratory contact as scheduled by the scheduler component. Theresults of the contact attempt may then be used to update thecorresponding customer' 304 contact information and history in step 520.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-5, although steps of the method 200 and themethod 500 have been sequentially or serially numbered, such numberingis not an indication that such steps must be performed in the orderrecited, and is merely provided to facilitate clear referencing of themethod's steps. The steps of each of these two methods may be performedin a different sequence and/or concurrently, without deviating from thescope or spirit of the disclosed invention. Furthermore, the methods 200and 500 may be performed periodically, and their results may be used toupdate the customers' 304 contact information. One advantage of thedisclosed invention is that its periodic use of an exploratory modelallows it to continue to explore customer behavior and identify contactchannel types, contact channels and/or time periods with relativelyhigher RPC rates. Where the methods 200 and 500 are executed for thefirst time for one or more customers 304 that have no contact history(or outdated contact histories; e.g. more than six months old), themethods 200 and 500 may use default values. For example, they mayprioritize the available contact channel types 312, opting to use atelephone number whenever it is available, or using postal mail only ifother contact channel types 312 with potential for more immediateresults are unavailable (for e.g., where the only information for acustomer 304 is a mailing address). Such default choices may be modeledon RPC rates of other customers, historical data, or other information,and may further be configurable by a user.

Referring generally to FIGS. 2-5, the disclosed invention allows thecustomer service provider 300 to use the contact information it has forits customers according to an exploratory model, and to select forexploration contact channel types 312, channel subtypes 316, and/or timeperiods 320 that would not be selected under an exploitative model.Exploitative models, such as the BTTC model, do not systematicallycontact customers for whom little or no contact history exists, incontrast to the exploratory model of the present disclosure.Additionally, aspects of the exploratory model of the present disclosureprovide for continuous exploration of existing and new ways of reachingcustomers, thereby adapting to their changing habits and patterns ofavailability.

While embodiments of the invention are recited with reference to acustomer service provider processing customer accounts, additionalexemplary embodiments of the disclosed invention performing the stepsand functions stated above may include, without limitation: banks,credit card and student loan servicers, insurance providers, advertisersand marketing firms, survey providers, customer service providers,pollsters, political and social campaigns, collections agencies, callcenters, and social media outlets.

While the present invention is particularly shown and described withrespect to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that changes in forms and details may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present application. It istherefore intended that the present invention not be limited to theexact forms and details described and illustrated herein, but fallswithin the scope of the appended claims.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “module” or “system.” Furthermore,aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer programproduct embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) havingcomputer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present invention are described with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

1. A method for evaluating contact information, comprising: selecting aplurality of contacts having a plurality of contact channels and timeperiods; determining a set of exploration scores for each of theplurality of contacts by analyzing a usefulness of corresponding contactchannels and time periods for making exploratory contact attempts; andpresenting the set of exploration scores to a recipient for making acontact attempt to each of the plurality of contacts, wherein at leastone of the above steps is performed using a computer.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the set of exploration scores for each contact includesa plurality of exploration scores for one or more contact channel/timeperiod pairs of that contact.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the setof exploration scores is determined by an exploration score functioncomprising steps of: determining at least one unexplored potentialvalue, contact utilization value, and need to explore value for eachcontact; and determining the set of exploration scores for the pluralityof contacts based on each contact's unexplored potential value, contactutilization value, and need to explore value, according to anexploration criteria.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the explorationcriteria is configurable by a user.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe plurality of contact channels include e-mail, postal mail,telephone, telefax, text message, or instant messenger.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the method is performed periodically according to aconfigurable schedule.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the recipientis a scheduler making a plurality of exploratory contact attempts basedon the set of exploration scores.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein thescheduler further makes a plurality of exploitative contact attemptsbased on recommendations from a best time to contact module using a setof results from the plurality of exploratory contact attempts.
 9. Asystem for evaluating contact information, comprising: a computer havinga processor, and a computer-readable storage device; and a programembodied on the storage device for execution by the processor, theprogram having a plurality of program modules, including: a selectingmodule configured to select a plurality of contacts having a pluralityof contact channel and time periods; a determining module configured todetermine a set of exploration scores for each of the plurality ofcontacts using the corresponding contact channels and time periods; anda presenting module configured to present the set of exploration scoresto a recipient for making a contact attempt to each of the plurality ofcontacts.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the set of explorationscores determined for each contact by the determining module includes aplurality of exploration scores for one or more contact channel and timeperiod pairs of that contact.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein thedetermining module is further configured to determine the set ofexploration scores for each contact according to an exploration scorefunction having an unexplored potential value, a contact utilizationvalue, and a need to explore value modified according to an explorationcriteria.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the presenting module ofthe program communicates with a call center.
 13. A computer programproduct for evaluating contact information, the computer program productcomprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium havingprogram code embodied therewith, the program code readable/executable bya processor of a computer to perform a method comprising: selecting aplurality of contacts, by the processor, the plurality of contactshaving a plurality of contact channels and time periods; determining aset of exploration scores for each of the plurality of contacts, by theprocessor, using the corresponding contact channels and time periods;and presenting the set of exploration scores, by the processor, to arecipient for making a contact attempt to each of the plurality ofcontacts.
 14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the setof exploration scores for each contact includes a plurality ofexploration scores for one or more contact channel/time period pairs ofthat contact.
 15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein thedetermining step of the method further includes: determining a result ofan exploration score function, by the processor, based on at least oneunexplored potential value, contact utilization value, and need toexplore value for each contact, according to an exploration criteria.16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the explorationcriteria is configurable by a user.
 17. The computer program product ofclaim 13, wherein the plurality of contact channels includes email,postal mail, telephone, telefax, text message, or instant messenger. 18.The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the method isperformed periodically according to a configurable schedule.
 19. Thecomputer program product of claim 13, wherein the recipient is ascheduler making a plurality of exploratory contact attempts based onthe set of exploration scores.
 20. The computer program product of claim19, wherein the scheduler further makes a plurality of exploitativecontact attempts based on recommendations from a best time to contactmodule using a set of results from the plurality of exploratory contactattempts.